Ella continues to make tons of progress. Her cognitive impairment however becomes clearer as she get older. Meaning, for example, that it is clear that math is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for her. Reading is going better and it seems like she will be able to read although fluency is still a ways away. She loves books and that is her first choice of activity. She tells herself the stories mostly and needs someone to point her to the reading but she can do it! Physically she is walking all over the place and very independent in our house. We have a large penthouse apartment all on one floor which is perfect for her. There are no stairs or level changes to deal with. She is almost completely independent in the bathroom which after almost 10 years is a big deal. Otherwise, there are a lot of medical appointments for me to deal with as she needs follow up for orthopedics, neurosurgery, craniofacial surgery, endocrinology (she has precocious puberty), dermatology, ear-nose-throat (a new discovered problem is a structural hearing deficiency) etc. Sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed with all the appointments and all the things I need to remember to do. This is still new territory for me in Israel – finding the right doctors, dealing with a different kind of bureaucracy. In any case, the medical care is very good here, excellent in fact. Everything is covered b/c Israel has universal health care.
Ella sings from the minute she gets up in the morning and throughout the day. Her physical therapist is American so they sing together throughout their sessions, folk songs mostly, Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchel. Ella knows all the words. She’s in her choir at school. The report from the choir teacher is that her participation is improving all the time. She certainly knows the songs. She has a whole repertoire of her own and siting and singing or standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror has become one of her activities.